Rise to the Summit
by The Unknowing Herald
Summary: Fantasia. Once separated from the rest of the world, has finally opened its borders for the Pokémon League Circuit. As if a signal had been deployed the region now welcomes a plethora of Pokémon enthusiasts as they all strive for glory. However, in the shadow of the happenings, more than one danger sharpens its claws. We now join a group of young trainers on their climb to the top.
1. I Choose You, Axew!

**Author's Note:** Sorry guys, I'm not even going to go around apologizing for this. Yes, this is the result of X and Y hype. Rarely am I this hyped for a game. Hell, I'd bet last time I was THIS hyped up for a release was… Dissidia. That was five years ago. So let's all share in the hype and have a good ol' read, shall we? Unending will get the love it deserves for the rest of the year, with the rest, like this, taking a sideline while also being updated, so everyone's happy!

* * *

**Rise to the Summit**

**Chapter One**

**I Choose You, Axew**!

* * *

"And it's a double K.O! Ladies and gentlemen we are down to the last Pokémon for both competitors!" an announcer shouted while the giant screen showed the pictures of a Venasaur and a Garchomp darkening, the roar of the crowd it incited echoing through the night's sky. The crowd cheered through the seats of the ever grand Indigo Plateau as the greatest and most revolutionary battle yet raged on.

"It has come to this ladies and gentlemen, after a grueling string of battles between the current champions from all five regions, it has come to this! The final Pokémon of the Kanto and Sinnoh Champions! Who shall be victorious? Red of Pallet Town or Cynthia? Give us a show to end this Pokémon world tournament!" the announcer exclaimed, obviously as hyped as the audience, as both him and them fell silent on their seats as both champions went for their last Poké Ball. You could feel the tension as the platinum blonde haired Cynthia reached for the side of her black glamorous dress to pull out her final Poké Ball just as Red reached to the side of his belt, removing his hat to wave some hair into his direction before putting himself in battle position. He had already taken out Garchomp, he just needed one more push… just one… more… push!

Both Trainers pulled back their balls as the crowd cut their breath. They could always have a surprise in-store, who knows?

And in one note, both Champions called for their last hope to take the field.

"Go Lucario!"

"Go Pika!"

* * *

"_Young Master…_"

We now cut to a room. A luxurious one at that. It was primarily a dark silver in most of the coloration, that being the walls as the bed was a simple, a normal single bed for a teen whose covers were filled to the brim with dragon Pokémon markings, even if the legendries on it were a bit off the mark, due to rarity of said beasts, some being unseen by most, if not all, of the human population. What really showed his wealth was that, well, whatever entertainment tech you may think of, he had in his room. Yet the teen sat there, looking into his computer screen as images of a yellow mouse and a blue fox passed like flashes. There was only one poster in his room, and it was one of the "Pokémon World Tournament" on two years past, in which all champions were engraved with their signature Pokémon in tow. Back then, only five leagues were registered on the official circuit, so it simply showed Kanto's, Johto's, Hoenn's, Sinnoh's and Unova's champions. It missed the three new participants to it, most notably the boy's region, which had entered just a sliver too late to see a spot onto the world tournament.

"_Shin!_" the voice now rang the teen ten times louder in his mind. It hit him in such a way the fourteen year old got shot his head backwards with such force all balance on his chair was lost, the teen giving in to the laws of gravity, crashing into the ground.

"Darn, that hurts!" the boy groaned while caressing his sore neck. Slowly standing back up, he came face to face with the one calling onto him.

"_Wash your mouth young man!" _the maid of his household teased, her _voice_ always cheery a joyful. She wore what you'd expect from a maid, a distinct long-skirted navy-blue dress combined with her puffy shoulders where one inverted triangle of a darker red gave off a both humble and kind aura. Her apron was of a pristine white, trying up on her back neatly in a large ribbon, the colors complimented with the color of her own hair, the same dark red as the triangles. A strange color, yes, but her hairstyle was not usual either. Not only did she style it in a way two large spikes of dark red hair protruded diagonally back but just below each of them a long strand of hair flew to wind that entered the window. "_What are you gawking at? You three are kinda creepy sometimes…_" she said, more like teased. She knew that most teens… who am I kidding, ALL teens in the town had her as their crush. Pity she was twenty-five. Who could blame them? She had no flaws apart from being mute. And well, that hardly constituted as a flaw. How, you may ask? And how is she talking? Well, she isn't. May I remind you of Sabrina everyone? Yes, you are now aware that humans can also have psychic powers. She was one of the few to be gifted as such, and she used her gifts to overcome her disability and much more.

"S-sorry Erina. I was just watching Red's final match," the boy explained to his maid, who crossed her arms and sighed, shaking her head in dismay.

"_Again? Look, as much as you adore Red, that's becoming disturbing,_" she was serious this time around and the teen could see it.

"Still, I have to understand just how he does it! I mean, he must be a master strategi-"his mouth was suddenly closed by an unseen force, Erina frowning as it did. Knowing she was right on this, as soon as she broke her mental hold, he didn't even complain about it. "I guess I was too caught up… but what can I do? I have to wait till tomorrow to head out," the boy said, sighing once again as he looked at the calendar. He remembered how bummed he was when, just before leaving on the fateful journey as a Pokémon trainer, the League had demanded the minimum age to become one to be raised to fifteen. He understood the thought, crime had skyrocketed these past years and if news from other regions were correct, the world hadn't been fine and dandy and ten year olds were not the most mature of people to begin with... But this led him to wait five more years than the usual crowd before him. And some people like Red had become Champion at eleven! ELEVEN! He still felt screwed over, but at least it was almost coming to an end.

"_Oh, wittle Shin is impatient! Just come on down, your brothers already left to do whatever they want, you should get your breakfast and walk around town for one last time, don't ya think?!_" Erina told him, giving him a strong hug before skipping outside the room, signaling him to come down once he got dressed. Shaking his head, the teen went to his closet and grabbed his clothes. After getting in the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror. Looking at him was an eager fourteen year old whose development had kicked early, standing taller than a great deal of the ones that shared his age. He was wearing a simple black shirt embroidered with golden lines, said garb extending in style to his trousers and shoes, being both practical and, in his humble opinion, stylish. He felt like little something was missing, but nothing he could do right now. He scrubbed his unruly, mane-like brown hair back into its usual, slightly less messy form, touching his neckline. His brown eyes examined his body and he determined he was ready for one more day.

* * *

After washing his face, he descended to the lower level of his house, quickly heading towards the kitchen. The dining room was overkill for just one to use. As he arrived, he was _greeted_ by a rolling ball of orange and beige crashing into his legs. He fell flat on his but much to the mental mocking of Erina before taking a look at what had slammed him down. In front of him were the family's pet Pokémon, a Growlithe and his own pet, an Axew, both belly up and with spiral for eyes.

"_They were fighting over the last bit of food again,_" Erina explained, Shin already having guessed most of it. Those two had never gotten along, ever since Axew had come into the house and started cutting gashes into the walls with his tusks, marking it as his territory, Growlithe had engaged in what at first was a battle to the death, but over the years had evolved into a very, very troublesome sibling rivalry.

"Trombe, Rai, what am I ever going to do with you? You're supposed to be part of a TEAM!" he reprimanded the orange pup of black stripes and cream fur lowering his head in shame while the small dragon crossed its paws and looked away. Not only was he rash on what he did, but he was also extremely prideful. Shin attributed this to his coloration, as, unlike then normal green of an Axew, was instead of a very rare beige variant through his whole body, its collar being violet and his protrusion on his head being of a darker beige instead of very dark green. He was what people called affectionately, a Shiny Pokémon. They were extremely rare, the base probability of being born as one being a mere one in *cough* OVER EIGHT THOUSAAAAAAAAAAND *Breaks Scouter*. Sorry, needed to be done. Still, you understand just how rare of a specimen Rai was. And he knew all about it. He pranced around everywhere, knowing all eyes were on it, he was a diva and he knew how to abuse it.

"_Rai, keep it up and all the blocks go to Trombe,_" and he immediately lowered his head in defeat. Erina was better at controlling Shin's Pokémon than he was sometimes, but that's the advantage of being able to telepathically communicate. They "get" you. Shame neither Shin nor his brothers were born with that gift.

Things more calm, Shin sat down on the table as his mother's Gardevoir helped Erina with the cooking. He was always flabbergasted at how a Gardevoir could cook, but if a Chansey can be a nurse, it's not that out of the world. His breakfast was fast and his favorite, the one people called a "British" Breakfast, whatever that meant.

"_So, what are you planning for your last day in Casheens Shin?_" Erina questioned, trotting her finger through the table as her amber eyes asked the person she had come to care as a little brother.

"Well, not much to do really. Since its still morning, I'll probably take a walk to the lake one last time, since it's on the opposite direction from Myssidia, I won't be passing through it," he explained, found memories of walking around the pristine waters of the lake filling his thoughts.

"_Lake Avia? Well, you really are a softy on the inside. I have a lot to prepare for the next morning, so just go and be careful okay?_" she teased, knowing that around Casheens there was nothing Shin hadn't braved before in his numerous fieldtrips. Shin nodded and waved goodbye to his maid and his mother's Gardevoir as he left through the front door. He immediately realized he was not alone however, looking down to see a Puppy Pokémon and a Tusk Pokémon looking into his eyes expectantly.

"You thought I was leaving you behind? Come on guys, we have one last stroll to take!" he exclaimed, pointing towards the wilderness ahead.

* * *

The family mansion was on the outskirts of Casheens itself, a town that, unlike what you may be thinking, was not without purpose. All cities in the region of Fantasia were born out of necessity and all of them contributed in some way towards the greater whole, no matter how big or small. Small cities were sometimes even prime for it, for example Mist's small size and isolated environment allowed them raise various species of Pokémon which were close to extinction. Namely Dragons and some kinds of Fairies. Casheens was a town of researchers. A mere hour of walking away from the sea, near a lake, just outside a plain and even close to a mountain and a forest, it encompassed most environments needed to keep Pokémon on while also being mostly detached from big busy towns, a perfect breeding ground for either up and coming scientists or veterans which needed to fully commit to their craft. The atmosphere of the town, along with its fame had made it so very rarely did anyone leave Casheens with the intention of being anything other than a researcher. Not one Coordinator had left the city yet, nor had a Ranger. Trainer? Shin, with his brothers, would be the one filling up a handful of the trainers to have ever left the town. The rest were all researchers or simple working class. Not that he minded anyway, yes, his childhood friends would be left behind when he left, but let's face it, unless a trainer partners up with one, he'll almost never meet his friend during his entire journey, so it was something he found inevitable anyway.

Enough with his hometown for now though, it is not where he is headed nor is it an immediate point of interest. Instead of heading East through Route 1, the one that lead to the Magic City of Myssidia, which he would be hiking towards the very next day, he'd gone West, towards Count Woods, the ones leading to Lake Avia.

As he walked through the foliage, he smiled as he saw Trombe and Rai run on ahead while he took a slower pace, taking in the entire scenario. He had to admit, he had gotten accustomed of taking long, peaceful walks through this lush and peaceful sea of green. The Pokémon were plentiful, but also peaceful, as he had just passed by a family of Seedots, all of which followed an adult Nuzleaf, who was dancing as he played his grass flute, without making any move towards the teen, as if he was also a Pokémon. This was achieved through years of mostly isolation from any harmful trainer, as the town produced very few, and also how important relationship with Pokémon was considered between researchers. The Pokémon of the forest had learned to treat humans as their own, even pranksters like Nuzleaf.

He closed his eyes as he moved through the forest, taking every sound in. The cries of the Pokémon, the beating of the leaves, the whistling of the leaves, the… explosion?!

"What the?!" Shin exclaimed, eyes darting towards where he knew Lake Avia to be, Trombe appearing through the foliage, barking worryingly. "What happened Trombe?" Shin asked, kneeling to the side of his Growlithe. The dog Pokémon then turned from hence it came from and pointed with its paw towards the path leading to the clearing of the lake whilst barking. "Rai's over there? What did he get himself into this time?!" Shin cursed before jumping back into position and dashing with the Growlithe through the forest and into the open area of the lake. As the light of the sun blinded him for a second, Shin shook his head and looked downhill to the margin of the lake. He had no idea what was in store for him.

* * *

Down the hill were quite a few Pokémons separated by a crater, one of them being his Axew, of the other not one was a normal native of the forest but most of them Shin recognized from his hobby that was, ironically, studying Pokémons. One of them was the ever adorable, brown furry Pokémon known as Eevee, its usual happy and kind expression nowhere to be seen as it eyed what seemed to be his enemy, brown eyes icy with fury. Its opponent was obviously out of his league. Standing over five times taller than it was the Eruption Pokémon, Camerupt, and it did not look docile. Both of its brown volcano-like humps oozed smoke and even some of the magma-like substance that come from it when it used Eruption, which, considering the amount of smoke in the air and the multiple craters on the ground, was much more than just a possibility. By Eevee's side Shin's Axew was groaning, a burn mark on his side showing that he had somehow been a part of the conflict.

"Rai!" Shin called as he and Trombe raced down the hill. The Pokémons had trainers it seemed, one of them was a blonde man wearing one of the tried and true white lab coats any scientist in Casheens would eventually use at one point or another, which confused him, as there was no reason for scientist to be here, fighting. As he reached Axew, he got a better look on what he thought to be the Eevee's trainer. It was a teenage girl and if he didn't know any better, she would be around his age.

The girl appeared to be small and frail as Shin estimated she barely reach his shoulder if she stopped kneeling and stood up. She was also far from muscled, being dry of muscle and fat, which, while giving anyone who looked at her quite a sight, did tell him she was not one that seemed to be the culprit of many fights. Her skin beautifully pale, once again contributing for her fragile beauty looks and her hair followed the same vein, being of a pale blonde, its wavy threads being enwrapped into a ribbon to form a ponytail while small bangs fell unto the girl's now sweating face. She wearing a very unconventional sleeveless red dress with floral patterns drawn into it followed by two matching long red gloves that covered most of her arms, several different sashes around her waist, and a whitish cape, also patterned over flowers. Her legs were covered by patterned white tights, and red and gold high-heeled boots. Finally, she had two silver earrings with red gems inside them and a violet, teardrop-shaped hanging near her breasts, a single blue gem resting at the center.

While a bit taken away by her, his good sense kicked him fast and he noticed she was nursing a fallen Gogoat back to health in her lap.

"Hey, you okay?" Shin felt compelled to ask as the girl kept muttering things like:

"It's okay, it's all going to stop soon," on the Mount Pokémon's ear. She stopped to nod, assuring him with: "I'll be fine, but you have to help Jade. I don't think he can handle the Camerupt that attacked us," she said with pleading eyes, and Shin had to admit, it was not looking good. If that Camerupt knew Eruption it was no plaything. But he had just the thing.

"Hey you!" he shouted at the scientist lookalike. "What's the meaning of this? Is it true you just attacked this girl?!" He knew he had leverage over anyone on Casheens, which he seemed to be from, as one word from him could get anyone kicked out.

"Well if it isn't the Professor's golden boy! I'm going to enjoy breaking you into little pieces way too much!" the scientist exclaimed in a nigh-crazed trance. That was certainly not what Shin expected. Surely being the son of the professor would make anyone weary, but this was just the opposite. The man thrived in it. "You had everything given to you! You have no idea how disgusting it was for me to see you and your brat brothers walk around the lab, disregarding all our hard work, knowing that if you wanted you could take our jobs! I hate people like you the most. You were "nice" to us to make sure you got your way with your parents. But no more. All that spy work is over! I, BIO, shall now return to my original purpose!Tell the girl to hand over the hedgehog and we're done here!" Shin was much less surprised. Apparently it was just a very advanced case of "jellytitis". He bet that it'd go amazing with peanut butter. Still, there was something in his speech it just didn't ring a bell.

"Hedgehog?" he looked back at the girl to see what he was talking about. Just behind her there was what he could only guess to be her sidepack, as it fit her dress' coloration. But what was behind it was what shocked him to no return. "T-that's a-"Sightings of it were scarce and no one had been able to get a Pokédex entry of it to the point where everyone but the most hopeful questioned its existence. Even calling it a legend at times. But it just fit too well. The very small hedgehog-like Pokémon, its body round and white as the purest snow, its paws small and round. Yet that is where the similarities to the descriptions ended color wise. Yes, for its back was indeed covered with fur whose consistency resembled grass, but it was azure with the yellow spots, not green. The Gracidea-like flower on each side of the head was also of a slightly darker pink, the leaves sprouting from them being also of a darker green than the described. "A SHAYMIN?!" he finally blurted, the noise causing the fragile-looking Pokémon to curl up in a ball. Now he knew there was no way he could step out of the way of this guy. "You're getting nowhere near that Pokémon!" he shouted, the girl surprised at his newfound determination, while the scientist was just amused.

"Alright then. Time to take out the trash. Let's go Camerupt! Take Down!" the scientist ordered, the camel roaring before charging into Shin. Rai stood infront of him, but Shin shouted:

"Rai, stay back! This is Trombe's fight!" the Axew looked back, confused, but obeyed his trainer and move out of the way with him as he ordered: "Trombe! Dodge to the left then Bite!"

The Growlithe, no stranger to battle, did so and jumped to the side, easily dodging the slow Camerupt and then going for the neck with his fangs. It did nothing. Camerupt barely flinched when Growlithe hit his supposedly weak neck. Bio laughed madly at the scene.

"You truly believed that I, Bio, would use a Pokémon that was so easily bested by a pathetic mutt?!" screamed the maddened scientist, not noticing how Trombe had gotten on the nape of his Pokémon's neck.

"Next you'll say, 'Camerupt, end it! Eruption!'!" Shin exclaimed, pointing at Dio, who, almost immediately afterwards, shouted!

"Camerupt, end it! Eruption!" he ordered, making a full stop while he looked at Shin after realized he had predicted it all.

"Just as I planned! Trombe, into the volcano, now!" Shin counter-ordered, shocking both the girl and Bio.

"He'll get hurt!" the girl screamed, leaving the Gogoat and pulling his arm to dissuade him. Shin just smiled while Bio laughed.

"I, Bio, am surprised at how someone apparently so clever could be so downright stupid. Very well, see your dog burn!" in tandem with him, the camel groaned, its hump exploding into crimson flames that shot towards the sky, even more smoke now covering the sun. The girl cried in despair over Bio's maddened laughter.

"What are you two screaming for?" Shin asked, eyes burning with self-confidence.

"Are you daft? Your pathetic mutt has fallen to the might of I, BIO!" the scientist proclaimed, soon eating his words when Camerupt's Erupting flames finished, leaving something behind. A shinning red object in the skies. "What? Impossible!" that object was none other than Trombe, his snout turning in what could be equaled to a smile.

"Flash Fire. An ability that makes a Pokémon able to completely absorb any fire it comes in contact with and use it to further its own power over the element!" Shin explained, pointing at Bio. "You are still a researcher on the inside, not a trainer. Power is meaningless without a way to use it! Trombe, Flame Charge!" he admonished, the Growlithe howling in return as he became covered in flames.

"Ha! Camerupt is fire-type! If Bite didn't faze it, this won't either!" he shouted, Camerupt bracing for the impact that was coming from the blazing meteorite Trombe had become.

"Really?" Shin simply asked as Trombe made contact with Camerupt's head… causing it to cry in pain while trotting back. "Next you're going to say, 'How?! It's Fire-Type!'"

"How?! It's Fire-Type!" again, he hesitated, being completely read.

"Trombe's type being fire, combined with Flash Fire's boost and Flame Charge's higher power make it so it hits harder even through type disadvantage! And guess who's faster now?!" Trombe whirled around and hit him AGAIN, this time much faster. "Everytime it hits, he gains momentum! You can't catch him now!"

"Impossible! Take Down!" Bio ordered, but as Shin predicted, he was just far too slow now, Trombe being just a blur.

"Aren't you forgetting someone? Rai, Dual chop!" he ordered, the Axew appearing from the side of the Camerupt, paws shinning as he slammed both into the side of its head. This normally would be simply unfair and despicable, but Shin knew this guy was no better. This attack however, proved fatal… for him, not Bio. Camerupt's eye suddenly became red. He knew what had happened all too well. "A… critical. That Camerupt has Anger Point!" he screamed, knowing exactly how screwed he was. "Trombe! Hit him fast!" he was at a loss when Bio laughed yet again. He was going to wither down Camerupt… not crush him fast. But like this, he NEEDED to, which he simply could not.

"I, BIO, have gotten tired of this! Earthquake!" he ordered, now being Shin's time to gawk in despair.

"That'll hit us all! Are you insane?!" He exclaimed, knowing just how much Anger Point exploded a Pokémon's Power. While Camerupt reared back, getting ready to unleash its fury, he saw what was a strange happening. The smoke of the sky was all moving towards one spot behind him. Moments later, a flash of azure sped through Shin's side, the smoke following it.

"What the-" Bio exclaimed as he saw Shaymin leap in front of Camerupt as its legs went down,, all smoke concentrated on his now darkened back. With a mighty:

"SHAAAAAAAAAAAY!" a green explosion erupted from the small creature, encompassing everything on its surroundings, including Shin and the Pokémons. While he didn't lose consciousness, he WAS thrown back a fair distance by the sheer power of the Pokémon's attack, falling on his back and sliding across the grass. Just as he stopped though, something heavy fell on top of him, grounding him even more.

"What just…" he opened his eyes and panicked. What had fallen on top of him was none other than the girl. He sucked around girls. A lot. "H-hey… ar-are you oka-aaaay?" he blurted in a way that, if you weren't paying attention, you'd understand nothing of.

"Yes, but what about the Shaymin?" she questioned weakly, seemingly just as flustered, but both shook it off when what just happened clicked back onto their minds. They quickly got back on their feet and looked at the still dusty area. When it cleared, they saw Rai, Trombe and Jade all circling the now fallen legendary while Bio knelt to the side of his unconscious Camerupt.

"How could I, Bio, LOSE?! What kind of monster is that?!" he screamed, looking at the downed Shaymin with horror.

"One of the pocket variety," a calm, mocking and echoing voice said, a man somehow appearing from the cloud of smoke… or was it a man? "And of the legendary variety too. I am surprised two of our objectives lay so close to each other…" Shin didn't even know if he was. He was far too tall and heavily armored in gray armor that covered his entire body twin horns adorning his helm, the only opening being the one to show his eyes, it barely seemed to be a man…

"C-Commander Garland!" Bio exclaimed, lowering his head at the sight. "You have no ne-"

"Silence! You have lost your battle Bio! Now stand down as I finish it!" Garland boomed, Bio falling on his rear at the sheer power of his voice. Shin and the girl shivered once that soulless gaze turned to them. "Very well, now we may speak. Girl, you know very well what I want, and it's not something as fleeting as the life of a hedgehog with flowers on top," he began, extending his metallic hand towards her and demanding: "Hand over the Fairy Plate! I may even let you and your pesky companion go if you do!"

While Shin was at a loss, the girl sure wasn't, as she clutched her bag right next to her chest and replied: "My father gave his life to keep this from you… I will never give it up!" she said, a determination he didn't expect to hear from a girl like that coating every word. He wondered if she was used to this.

"You are as stubborn as your father, little fairy girl, very well then, I'll even show you what was the end of him! Come out and fight, Aggron!" Garland exclaimed, sending out an Ultra Ball, which, when opened revealed what was on its inside, the steel black Dinosaur-like Pokémon named Aggron, it's horned silver helm shinning on the sun. "Expect no chivalry here, woman! Aggron, attack with Double-Edge!" the thing roared, responding to the order with a charge that made the land tremble at every step. Shin was frozen, the fear blocking out any rational thought he had left, but this time the girl saved him, throwing both herself and him out of harm's way just by a shred. However, they had to resort to diving to the side to do so, and that left them wide-open as the beast prepared to do it again.

"Xew!" Rai screeched, jumping from behind and landing a Dual Chop right into the skull of the Pokémon, preditibly not even flinching it.

"Rai no!" Shin exclaimed, but it was too late, Garland had already commanded:

"Get rid of that pest. Iron Tail!" caught in midair, Rai had no escape from the shinning Tail of the Aggron as it slammed into his side, a squeal of agony echoing as the small Pokémon was hurled across the ground in Shin's direction.

"Rai!" Shin called out, forcing himself up.

"Ax…" the tiny Axew squealed, slowly forcing itself on his feet.

"You have guts little one, but guts mean nothing against power! Trample him Aggron, Double-Edge!" he commanded, the Aggron preparing himself for the final strike.

"RAAI!" Shin screamed, rushing up to Rai, but he knew he wouldn't reach it time. The tiny Axew did not look away though, it courageously roared against its opponent while the shadow overtook him… Shin had to close his eyes, he couldn't watch

CRASH!

It all happened in a moment. One moment changed it all. Rai looked in awe, Shin opened his eyes and the girl gasped. Two bright orange wings flapped, their interior blue. One tail of the same color, just cream on the inside waved around with a flame decorating its tip. Barely holding the Aggron back, draconic heads hitting each other, was a Charizard, the Pokémon most kids drooled about.

"Why don't you go and mess with someone your own size? Assuming you can find one that is…" a mocking, young adult's voice said, a brown cape fluttering to the winds when he arrived near Shin and the girl. The man's wild, beige hair which spiked forward was as recognizable as it could get, ask any kid in the continent who he was and they'd answer, the green eyes only made it more obvious.

"And what is a champion doing in a place like this, if I may ask?" Garland questioned, the young man closing his eyes and reopening them, never losing his posture.

"I could ask the same about an admin like you," the person asked, shrugging right afterwards. "But I won't, I'll still have to bring you in. So, are we going to solve this the easy way, or are you really going to face Green Oak, Champion of Kanto?" he questioned, his eyes changing ice cold, all of the mocking vanishing, as if he knew exactly what to expect.

"Titles meaning nothing in battle! I, Garland, will knock you DOWN champion!" he announced, Aggron roaring in concordance.

"Okay, come then," Green told him, him and Charizard nodded, readying itself.

"Aggron, polish yourself for battle!" he commanded, to which Green responded with:

"Stop him Charizard, use Flare Blitz!" at his command, the Charizard exploded in flames and launched itself at Aggron like a missile, a trail of flames burning behind it. It felt and looked like a much more powerful version of Trombe's attack.

"The trap was a success! Aggron, use Head Smash!" with a now unparalleled speed, Aggron coated itself in a blue energy and ran forward, head leading the charge against Charizard.

"No! Charizard is extremely weak against Rock moves! Pull him back!" Shin should've known better than to order a Champion around. Green stoically observed as both Pokémon crashed unto each other, the explosion blinding everyone for several seconds. When it all finished, Green didn't seem surprised when Aggron was the one standing in-between the flames and dust, roaring victorious.

"So weak! Are champions truly such knaves?!" Garland asked Green, whose look was as cold as ever.

"You seem so sure you won. Where is my Charizard then?" he asked, Garland suddenly realizing that, at the feet of his Aggron was nothing. He was surprised that Charizard had taken the Head Smash and continued to fight… but it seemed true. Even Shin was surprised. Looking on, Green made a thumbs-up sign, one that everyone interpreted as Charizard being on the flight.

"Aggron! Ready yourself to shoot it down with a Thunder!" Garland ordered, static being created between the horns of the Pokémon as it waited for its pray. However, the skies were clear and clean, no signs of clouds and certainly not a Charizard. It was then that Green changed his signal to a thumbs-down.

Suddenly, just below Aggron a hole opened, Charizard spring upwards from it in blinding speed, colliding with Aggron's head once again, this time dealing considerable damage as dig was super effective on two fronts.

"Tricky jester…" Garland growled, knowing the position he was in.

"Charizard, finish this! Blast Burn!" Green ordered, calling out for the ultimate Fire move people only ever saw him, and only him, use. Roaring as the flame on its tail exploded in power, Charizard created a giant ball of fire within its mouth and held it in for a few seconds, it ever expanding before being used for its intended purpose, fired at point blank range against Aggron, which could only groan before the explosion overtook it, silencing him with its blazing burst. After all the smoke cleared out, between the flames it lay, completely knocked out. "Eat your words old man," Green said, walking towards Charizard. "Will you come with me now, or are we going to continue this dance?"

"We very much will… Champion. I admit, I was surprised, but now? Now you shall feel the full wrath of the Discord! Behold! The incarnation of the Land! Landorus!" Shin could not believe his ears, and neither could Green by the looks of it. But his eyes didn't lie. The Therian form of the Legendary soon landed from the person's Ultra-Ball, the large, orange and mustached felyne roaring with all of its might, the roar causing even the Fire Drake to lose some ground. Under any other circumstances, this brown-tailed lord of the land would get a thorough inspection by Shin, but now, he was worrying for even GREEN OAK was afraid!

"Charizard! To the skies!" he commanded, Garland having none of it.

"Not so fast! Crush him Landorus! Stone Edge!" he shouted, Landorus roaring at his command before BEGINNING to unleash his attack. Beginning.

"Hydro-Pump!" Someone exclaimed from the sidelines, just before the Legendary got blasted from the side by its weakness, sending him crashing through some trees as a result. "Seriously Green, for a Champion you're so helpless…"a girl sitting on the shell of a Blastoise sighed, yawning mockingly. She wore a white flat and round hat with a single red line that led to a half-Poke Ball design. She also wore a baby blue tank top and a red mini-skirt, he shoes following the coloration of her hat. She also wore black bracers and her long socks were of the same color as her tank-top.

"Well, it would seem we are outnumbered… you are lucky this time, girl with the Fairy Plate. Landorus! Incarnate!" Garland ordered, raising a mirror skyward, Landorus passing through its light and becoming a more humanoid being, sitting on a cloud and looking down upon us "mortals". "Bio, let us go, your performance needs reevaluation…" he told his subordinate, grabbing him while Landorus pulled them into his cloud with his powers, suddenly vanishing into the distance.

"Weeeeeeell, that was close," the girl that helped us said.

"Blue… what are you doing here?" Green questioned, the girl looking at him confused. "You were supposed to come with Red,"

"I am NOT going to be a third wheel between him and Yellow!" the girl shot back, only getting a passing glare from Green before his attention turned to the boy near him. "Hey, don't ignore me!"

"You alright?" Green asked Shin, who, in all his awe, could barely mutter a yes. He had just seen a champion battle first hand… and then a LEGENDARY. Scratch that… TWO legendries. Which reminded him, he and Green, along with Blue, now stared back at the girl, who, somehow, had placed her hands on the Shaymin and it was slowly recovering, its colors returning as did its consciousness. Suddenly, it gave a weak:

"Shay… min…" back to the girl, who actually replied, as if she knew what he had said:

"Don't mention it… it only got this bad because I couldn't do anything," she replied, the Shaymin now fully recovered.

"Shay… Shay…" it said, hiding it's face from her.

"Don't! It's not your fault!" she exclaimed, grabbing the small creature and putting it into a hug.

"She's just like Yellow, she can heal Pokémon…" Blue said, Green nodding and walking to her side.

"I'd normally ask who are you and what is going on, but I think we should get you and that Shaymin to safety first. Can you walk? My Charizard can help you if you can't…" he said, an air of genuine kindness and generosity suddenly sprouting from the man.

"Oooooh, Green's showing his softy side!" Blue teased, getting mostly ignored.

"No, don't worry, I'm not hurt. I've healed the Gogoat and Shaymin enough to walk too, even if it's only a short distance," the Shaymin squeaked and buried its snout on her chest more while the Gogoat agreeing with a loud:

"Goooooo!"

"Alright, just ask if you do need it though," the champion of Kanto said, turning his back on her and now talking to Shin, who snapped out his shock induced trance as he got looked in the eyes. "You know the professor of this region? Or at least where we can meet?" he questioned.

"Oh, that I do! Come on, I'll lead you to her!" he exclaimed, feeling useful for the first time ever since Green came in.

"Whoa, calm down there cowboy, how do you know her?" Blue asked him, to which he simply replied:

"She's my mom!" he explained, shocking quite a few onlookers. Just as he explained it, Rai and Trombe returned to his side, Rai laying on the Growlithe's back, weakened. "Oh, Rai… you did great buddy. I'll take you to my mom and she'll fix you right up," he said, petting the Axew. However, someone had different plans.

"Can I?" the girl questioned, Shin nodding out of reflex. She kneeled into Trombe's side and put her hands on top of Rai, a pale light coming from them moments later. Like Shaymin, Rai seemed to slowly return to normalcy over the course of a minute. As the girl gasped for air, Rai squeaked of joy and jumped into her arms, thankful.

"That was… amazing," he had caught a glimpse of this earlier, but first person it was far more amazing. True, no one KNEW the limits of the human's psychic abilities, but these seemed to outclass everyone he had ever seen, and he had been in Myssidia already. Yet, she seemed so normal, playing with his Axew… wait, Rai didn't play with ANYONE before they begged him for it!

"Well, shall we?" Green asked, interrupting his thoughts. Him and the girl nodding as Green and Blue took the lead for the town.

"Hey," Shin called before the girl left. "I never asked you your name," this was more of a question than a statement, and the girl was ready to comply, even if her violet eyes darted to the ground before looking back at him and answering:

"Terra. Terra Branford."

* * *

Next Chapter:

_"I'm totashy shobur…"_

_"Terra… exotic, isn't it?"_

_"You call yourself a professor?!"_

Rise to the Summit continues in: **"Mer, Merlin, Merlina!"**

* * *

**Post-Chapter** **Note:**Most eventful first chapter I've ever written. I know. And because of it, I'll bet I just confused the hell out of you. Right? Yes… I bet I did. Two things. Just because two legendries made their way here in no way means I'm about to spam them. Much to the contrary. Two, the "magic" you've seen was already canon to the Pokémon universe, so don't worry for it. Now, you know how I LOOOOVE opinions! So, everyone, write whatever you like on that rectangle bellow, I'll answer… what I want to! *Laughs evilly*.


	2. Mer, Merlin, Merlina

**Author's** **Note:**Well, well, well. I'm updating today. Why you ask? One, I FINALLY got Pokémon X! And that propelled me to finally update this. Two, today is the birthday of… Terra. I know, I know, the fact that I know this is kind of disturbing, but oh well, faboys will fanboy. You shouldn't complain. So, without further ado… the chapter!

**PS:** All Hail Goomy, our Squishy Lord and Savior.

* * *

**Rise to the Summit**

**Chapter Two**

**Mer, Merlin, Merlina**

* * *

Shin was still stunned by how much had happened to him in so little time. His mind tried to process all of it to the best of its abilities, but even the most simplistic version of the events baffled him. He was just going for a walk in the forest when suddenly he found out a scientist had turned coat and attacked a girl he had never seen before, who by the way, was accompanied by a SHAYMIN of all things. As if that wasn't enough, even after it somehow defeated the scientist, a giant in armor appeared, beat up his Pokémon and caused him to have to be saved by A CHAMPION, who then battled A FORCE OF NATURE before having the enemies retreat. Yeah. Not the most normal of days and it wasn't even past noon.

He looked to the side and see how Trombe was still walking by his side, Rai having completely sold out to the girl that had healed him, even though she was carrying the Shaymin on her arms, not him. He was surprised with Trombe's performance against the Camerupt. The young pup not only had responded immensely well, but he had read his intentions just as well. All of Shin's doubts about how a former pet of a human made breed could become an amazing battler had vanished in just one battle. Trombe seemed to feel his attention and turned his charcoal eyes, as if questioning the owner what he was thinking about him. A simple smile and a pet on top of the head from Shin got the message across the Puppy Pokémon, who licked his hand back.

"Is that one of yours?" Shin suddenly heard Green ask, quickly turning to face the inquiring face of the champion. He gulped and took a look at what he meant. Running towards them on its four paws was a Pokémon covered primarily in pale cream-colored fur with pinkish feet, ears, and tail. He had bow and scarf adornments around his left ear and neck. The bows are pale cream with pinkish centers, while the scarves are pale cream with pinkish and blue tips. It's big, sky-blue eyes eyed Shin intently as it ran up to him, jumping into his lap.

"Is that a Kalos Pokémon?!" Blue gasped, recognizing the pink mammalian from the tales of her juniors.

"Morgana?! What happened? Is Mom alright?" Shin quickly asked the Pokémon, who shook its head vigorously crying:

"Syl… Sylv, Sylv! Sylveon!" the Eeveelution exclaimed, it's ribbons touching Shin's face before pointing back at the town, a smoking column erupting from it. Shin didn't know what it meant, but he quickly took towards where it was pointing its snout and his eyes bulged. There was fire coming from Casheens. Green had already took off on his Charizard while he looked on.

"Damnit, it looks like it's coming from the stables!" Shin said, already memorizing the map of the city in his mind.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Lead the way!" Blue yelled at him, grabbing Terra's hand and urging him to go forward. Shin nodded and patter Morgana on the back, the Sylveon sprinting on the way to the stables to lead them.

* * *

They cruised through the not-so-busy streets of Casheens, the self-absorption of most scientists being more than on the showing here. Eventually though, they did arrive at a crowd of people which were all surrounding the smoke. Shin and Blue pushed through them, Terra following soon after and they found themselves face to face with not wanton destruction but just overall chaos. Ponyta were running around, Linoone randomly jumped from the ceiling, Gogoat were feasting on the fresh grass, and in the middle of it all, one Pokémon did not fit the bill.

Laying back onto the ground, his magnificent mustache charred on both ends and a spoon in its mouth, the powerful Psychic known as Alakazam was. At first, Shin rushed up to it, shouting:

"Merlin! What's wrong?!" but, as soon as Blue and Terra had reached him, he was instead face palming.

"What happened kiddo? Is he alright?" Blue asked with at least some worry in her voice. Shin just turned back, face completely stoic and not amused while he said:

"He's drunk," the statement took Blue back quite a bit. A Pokémon? Drunk? What was this world coming to? "He's my mother's drinking buddy when Dad's gone, which means…" And like clockwork, the sound of a Charizard landing accompanied Green and an unknown person ridding an furry, canine like Pokémon with a single, small dark blue horn, Absol.

By riding I mean she was laid down, sprawled on the back of the Absol with a dreamy expression, her long hair, mixed of red and pink laying wildly across her body up until her waist. She wore a detailed robe, filled with different figures of violet and gold. In any other person, this would lead you to believe she was wise and solemn, she was even wearing a gold tiara with a small ruby on the center, one that branched out on the back of her head. Not to Shin though. He knew her.

"I found the Absol trying to pull her away from the lab as she shouted nonsense about just one more sip and she had made the discovery of the century and stuff like it. I promised a Gallade I'd bring her out while he signaled he'd bring help," Green explained, pointing at the woman, who was more out of it than into it by then. "Tell me the drunkard isn't the professor," he told Shin, who uncomfortably shifted, looking to the side and whistling.

"HEY! I'm totashy shobur…" the woman said… just as she felt a massive urge to… empty her stomach to Absol's side. Ignoring her, Shin nodded.

"Yeah. As hard as it is to believe, that right there is my mother. Head Professor and Pokémon Investigator in the Fantasia Region. Merlina Magus," he introduced just as Merlina vomited once again. Not the greatest of introductions.

"Pwasure to mesh yoush Shampion Greesh," Merlina said, offering her hand to Blue instead of Green. Must be reading too much of the dub. Green scuffed:

"Well, she's not getting out of here on her own. The Alakazam probably wrecked the stables too…" Green said, looking at the stables and down to Merlin, who was now hiccupping:

"Ash-*hic*-Ashakasham!" while waving his spoon-less hand aimlessly in midair.

Suddenly though, Terra squeaked and jumped back, looking around in terror.

"Anything wrong?" Shin asked her, the girl squeaking again as he touched her on the shoulder.

"T-there's a voice of a woman in my head," she explained, looking back at him with a genuinely scared expression. Shin gulped for a moment before proceeding to shake his head.

"Mom, get out of Terra's head. You're scaring her," he said with a long, tired voice, as if he was about to sigh. It was obvious to everyone there that this wasn't a one-off situation.

"Oooooh. How cutshy! Imma be a grandma so-"

Bonk.

No one had really seen her coming, but before they knew it, Erina's fist had connected with the top of Merlina's head, sending her into a premature coma in one fell swoop.

"_That is enough out of you Misses," _Erina commented, causing everyone not from the household, Pokémon included, for even they had "heard" the woman's thoughts being projected unto their mind. Looking around, she quickly noticed it and amended even before being asked to. _"I apologize for not explaining it immediately. You see… I'm mute. The only reason I'm able to communicate with you is for my psychic abilities. The same one the misses used on you my girl,"_ she explained, an explanation easily accepted, which Shin could only place as them all having met at least one psychic person prior: _"Well then… Arthur was kind enough to go warn me of this so Guinevere teleported here and went to get the city's Roserade. We should meet them at our residence if we want to have the Misses in talking condition… Shin, would you bring Merlin? Lancelot will take the Misses, won't you?"_ Erina suggested, patting the Absol on top of the head, causing it to purr before nodding.

"I have a better idea," Green said as he saw Shin nod and start moving towards the Alakazam. "Go Rhyperior!" Green exclaimed, the bipedal rhino of pure stone roaring as he was summoned to the center of the town. He looked around quickly and aggressively, bumping his bludgeon-like tail on the ground before roaring once again. It was obvious it was expecting a fight, the scientists watching the happening quickly "lost interest in it" before Green could calm it down. It took a while for Rhyperior to accept he had been thrown out to carry a drunk Alakazam home. As this happened, Erina had directed herself to Terra.

"_The misses probably did it to you too, didn't she?"_ Erina questioned, earning a questioning look back from Terra.

"_What do you mean?"_ Erina heard an ethereal voice echo in her mind. She smiled warmly.

"_Oh, lookie here! I've never met anyone like me and the misses… outside of Myssidia. Well, I meant Merlina does quite enjoy to… pair her children up. Don't mind what she says,"_ Erina explained, successfully sending Terra into a blushing daze.

"Shaaaay?" the duo both heard the bush with legs say. Shaymin seemed entranced by the maid in front of it, going to her leg and sniffing it before looking upwards with those huge, round and insanely cute eyes. Erina smiled as they locked eyes and Terra knew they were communicating. She just didn't know HOW. She saw Erina mouth "Our little secret" and winking at Shaymin, who nodded with a reddened expression on its cheeks as Erina left.

"Shaymin?" Terra questioned, but Shaymin shook its head and replied with:

"Shay… Min min," but of course, what Terra heard was: "I'm sorry, it's a secret…" as the hedgehog hid its face in shame. Shaking her head, Terra took it into her arms and pulled him up.

"Don't be sorry," she comforted, petting its head as Green FINALLY got his Rhyperior to cooperate.

"I'm going to have to speak with Silver about this…" Green mumbled as he was showered by a rain of mocks from Blue, the champ walking to Shin's house with his head low and a very angry Rhyperior by his side. The bump on top of his head signified that Rhyperior may have spent a bit too long away from his trainer.

* * *

It wasn't long until they arrived on Shin's house. As they entered, Gardevoir mentioned them in, Gallade appearing to take the Alakazam from the obviously-not-fitting-in-the-door Rhyperior. He took her upstairs, where Shin oversaw the town's Roserade working her Aromatherapy on his mother and soon the Alakazam. The scent of a thousand flowers was almost intoxicating for someone not sick, but oh so addicting. He had to push himself out of it to not get lost into the Bouquet Pokémon's dance.

"So… what now?" Blue asked, taking the liberty to sit on the couch and cross her legs.

"Now… we wait," Green said, crossing his arms and leaning on a wall.

"You know, you'd look much cooler if not for the giant bumps on your head… champ," and so, we were introduced to our final two companions for the evening… afternoon… night. Depends when you read this, really. The first one, and the one who had spoken was obviously related to Shin as he was virtually identical to him, the only differences being his eyes, which were as blue as the while his hair is a vivid red, stylized in short, unkempt spiky hair. He also sported a scar across his right eye. Too close for comfort I'd assume. Now, this guy thought he was a badass, as evidenced by his dark leather jacket and matching trousers. Edgy.

The other one was similar to the others, but at the same time, not as much. He was far shorter than the other two, at least ten centimeters, and his hair was not as wild as them either, being more sleek and silver. His eyes were gray and his features slightly more effeminate than the one on his side. To finish it up, he wore what seemed to be a suit, yes, a suit, giving him a formal look, despite his unbuttoned shirt. What really stood out was how the suit was full of lines that looked more like conduits for some neon blue energy.

"Just shut up and don't get him angry Kaiser, he could kick you to the moon and back if he really wanted to," said teenager said, bumping him on the back of the head. "Kaiser" then proceeded to turn around with a deathglare, yet, before anything else could escalate, Erina called:

"_Everyone, head to the dining room. I have lunch ready and we have time to spare, Green and Blue are invited of course. Let's discuss this there… and you two, save it when you don't have two important guests standing right there in front of you,"_ Kaiser scuffed while the other simply shrugged, both heading to the dining room as one more message was delivered. _"Oh, and everyone, leave your Pokémons on the garden to your right, they have plenty of food made just for them there. The Boss' Pokémon eat a LOT, so we always have much to spare,"_

After said explanation, Green and Blue had no choice but to oblige. Well, Green did, but Blue forced him to oblige.

* * *

Reaching the table, they all took a seat, with Terra trying her best to stay away from too much of a concentration of people. Shin noticed that and handed her his chair, since it was the one on the edge and sat beside her. He was surprised to see Shaymin had not left her side and seemed quite terrified at the new environment. He knew Shaymin almost never contacted with humans though, and this one did seem shy, so there was nothing too surprising about it. Still, as much as it being a legendary intimidated Shin, Shaymin was also almost sickeningly cute and his fascination about the small Pokémon lead him to be able to swallow dry and kneel beside the small hedgehog. As his hand reached out to the top of the Shaymin's head, the small Pokémon curled up in a ball, trembling while he whined. Shin shook his head and decided to pet the spikes on its back, even if they stung.

Incredibly, they didn't. Shin felt like his hand was passing through vivid, lush azure grass. After a few strokes, the Shaymin decided to poke its head out, looking at him with curious eyes.

"Don't be scared… you want to stay with Terra, right? Okay, let me just a bowl of Pokéblocks and you can eat up here!" Shin exclaimed, trying to give Shaymin a positive vibe with his own behavior.

"Shay… min," Shaymin told Terra, who smiled back in result, as if she could understand what it mean.

"I told you that humans can be nice as well," she told the Gratitude Pokémon, scratching the base of his neck once it turned its head towards her.

She felt something burning into her back. Turning back, she came face to face with one of the two teens that she had seen enter the house earlier, the one with the crimson hair. He was staring quite intently at her, she couldn't help but rustle in her place and break the eye-contact.

"Can I help you?" she asked, hearing a chuckle in return.

"Well, the food isn't at the table, want to go see the Pokémon? There's a window there," he told her, pointing towards the end of the room. She looked and there was indeed one there. She loved Pokémon so, even though she did feel a little uncomfortable, she nodded in agreement. "My name's Kaiser. Kaiser Verus. Yours?" he questioned, Terra gulping before answering.

"Terra…" the small talk was getting to her. She was never the most sociable of people, combine that with her natural shyness and she had to force herself to even maintain a conversation as mundane as this one.

"First time I've heard a name like this. Terra… exotic, isn't it?" Kaiser said, flashing her coy smile as she did the same. Fortunately, they had arrived at the window and she quickly found a way to distract herself from the happenings. She observed the Pokémon as they ate and mingled, being especially entranced at Green's Ninetails. It was graceful, beautiful, yet commanded respect. She had quite a few admirers already. One of them was even Jade, her Eevee, even though she knew he was more curious than infatuated. She could feel it.

However, suddenly, a pink ribbon bumped him the head. Jade froze and slowly turned back to see Morgana, Merlina's Sylveon, just hoping around him, clearly asking to play. Terra was sure the Sylveon was much older, but Sylveon were peppy and playful. After much asking, and even a push from the Ninetails though, the Eevee swallowed his embarrassment over his attraction to the much older female and nodded, going to play with it and surprisingly, a Porygon-Z.

"Terra?" she heard him call, snapping back into the reality that was her having to lead a social life with strangers now.

"Yes?" Terra replied meekly as he paced around the window a bit.

"Can I ask how someone like you got to a place like this?" Kaiser asked, Terra leaning her head sideways in confusion.

"Like… this? Like me?" she asked, confused.

"Who wants to live, or even visit a place like this? It's just a rabbit hole for bookworms. It has nothing to see and the people here are boring. No one recommends this as a visit also… oh wait, I know! You want to be a trainer, right? Here for your starter?" he asked her, probably thinking it to be rhetoric as he quickly followed it up with: "Need a travel partner?" it was then that Terra realized he had strayed too close for comfort. His breath causing her skin to shrivel and she saw his hand move to her back… was his hand on her…

"Get away!" Terra screeched, panic driving her hand as it collided with Kaiser's face. The slap was audible across the dining room. In moments, all eyes were on them, and that made it all the worse to Terra. She shook her head and rushed out, into the kitchen, leaving Kaiser to cringe in embarrassment before shaking his head and preparing to give pursuit.

"Kaiser, leave the girl alone!" she thanked Arceus and the Creation trio the moment his companion swooped in and stood in the way of him and the kitchen.

"Marcus, out of the way, didn't you se-"

"I saw. And you deserved more. I don't care how attractive she is, you crossed the line… all of them," the silver haired boy said, pushing him back.

"Why you…" Kaiser began, however, for a moment, it was as if Giratina herself was standing behind him.

"_Took the words right out of my mind…"_ Erina told Kaiser, eyes blazing in a psychic blue energy.

* * *

In her rush to get away from the eyes of everyone, Terra's own eyes failed to see a pair of equally distracted eyes.

Crash!

"What the… Terra?" Shin asked, hampering her with one hand while still holding the bowl of Pokéblocks with the other. "What happened? You're…"

"I don't want to speak of it…" Terra quickly replied, turning around and whipping her one tear. It didn't take much for Shin to realize just what had happened. Especially knowing his brother and recognizing how Terra was not on the same level as the rest of the girls of their age in Casheens.

"Look, Terra… I don't know how to pit this, but my brother, Kai… He may look like a brute and a pervert... but he does mean well," he tried to explain, Terra shaking her head and turning back to him, as if asking "how?" "Well, if you look past the way he treats you and look to what he MEANT, you see he's not so bad… can you do it?"

"He… he did tell me he'd help me travel if needed and showed me the Pokémon," Terra concluded, deciding it was best to stick with this than just hating the guy. Not that she held any warm feelings for him, but she admitted he may not be all bad. If he was a diamond in the rough, he'd need a LOOOOT of work on him.

"See? Just bear with him for a bit… he's probably getting his due now," Shin said, much to Terra's confusion. Then the house trembled.

Once.

Twice.

Trice.

Ten times.

"Ouch, that's five times more than usual…" Shin said, making a face before heading towards the dining room with Terra. The sight was not pretty. Kai was barely on his feet, jacket thorn, bruises all over his body and one big inflated eye. Erina sat on her chair, eyes now returning to normal. She looked at Shaymin, which appeared… angry for once, and nodded at him. Shaymin then ran up to Kai at full speed and like a missile it hit him… right where the sun doesn't shine.

While Blue was just rolling on the floor laughing by now, Marcus, Shin and Green cupped their waist, almost feeling the pain their comrade was feeling as he weakly laid on the ground in fetal position.

"Shaymin! That was too much!" Terra surprisingly reprimanded, running to pick up the shiny legendary. It looked back at her and apologized as he used Baby Doll Eyes… literally. It didn't take more than a moment for Terra's rage to dissipate into a "daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw!"

"To be fair… he had it coming for a long time now," Shin told her patting Shaymin on the head, this time drawing no fear from the Grass-type.

"_That he did… and look! Food's ready!"_ Erina exclaimed, pointing towards the Gallade and the Gardevoir as they set the food on the table.

It was obvious that the main subject of the meal would be just what the heck happened to have the Champion of Kanto, a member of the Kanto Elite Four and an unknown girl jut waltz into the town. As the tale finished, Erina's gaze had been lowered and her teeth were cringing, signaling that she did know something about the operation. Kaiser on the other hand, was jealous of the fight Shin had managed to get into while Marcus' apparent apathy continued.

"I still think we should've left explanations to AFTER the Professor is here," Green pointed out, a bit unwilling to recount it all once again.

"_Oh don't worry about that. Us psychic people have a way to share our memories… well, Merlina does, I just let her,"_ Blue's glass almost spilled and Green just raised an eyebrow, Erina shook her head. _"She's easily one of the most blessed psychics in the region. She doesn't LOOK like much I know, but she IS all she's cranked up to be. Except if you crank her up to have any decency or logic behind most of her actions. Then she doesn't,"_ Erina said, covering her mouth with her hand and shaking her shoulders with laughter. Green, Blue and Terra felt a twinge of nervousness as they had completely forgotten she was mute, but it only lasted a second. _"And you, Terra. Can I ask you how did you get into that situation? Why were you here even?"_ she asked, causing Terra to tense for a moment before sighing deeply.

"I knew I had to tell you all of this, but it is still hard…" she said, shaking her head before someone offered her to stop. "I come from Narshe…" she began.

"Narshe? Ooooh, that's the place where Yellow wanted to go right? She had to talk with a certain Maduin about her powers," little did little Blue know, she had touched all the wrong strings. Before she knew it, the clang of a fork resonated on Terra's now empty plate and everyone looked to see Terra's face twisted into a mix of shock and despair. "He-hey what's the problem?"

"Sh-she won't find him there…" Terra explained, hands clutching to her knees while salty water droplets began to spice up the plate. "Papa… Papa's gone…"

* * *

She remembered it all too well.

Her birthday. It was on her birthday. On what would be the happiest day of her life, the day her father had promised her to go with her on a voyage through all of Fantasia. And yet, it was on that day that she woke up to her screaming mother.

"Mama?!" Terra exclaimed, rushing into the entrance hall to her house, Jade in tow, to see her mother on her knees in shock while tears came down her face. In front of her, laid down and breathing heavily, was a very injured Flareon. Her father's Flareon.

"Crusader?!" Terra cried, jumping to the rescue of the red furred Pokémon with a beige mane, poring all of her powers onto the Flareon. Much to her relief, Crusader's wounds were many or deep, he was simply tired. So very tired. The reason her mother was in shock was something Terra KNEW but didn't want to admit it. Her father never went anywhere without Crusader… Yet, she saw one letter on the floor next to her mother's knees. It was unopened, so Terra took it upon herself to open it.

My dear Terra,

If you are reading this, then the men I was talking to your mother about finally caught up to me. For better or worse, consider me dead. I will never surrender the secrets of our bloodline to them, nor will I hand them over a piece of Arceus himself. I doubt they will take it in stride. I apologize deeply for putting you and your mother through all of this, and even more so for leaving you so suddenly… but I have one final request for you, my shining star. Take the Pixie Plate, the embodiment of the Fairy Element that our family has possessed for generations and travel to Casheens. An old friend of mine lives there, professor Merlina Magus. She will know what to do with it. Tell your mother to seek shelter on the Gym and have them contact the Champion. He should be there in hours and nothing will be able to go past them. You must do all of this now! Time is of the essence, they can be rushing to your doorstep right now!

I am sorry to leave you with this burden and without a proper goodbye… I have no words that can serve as an apology and I can't muster the courage to write much more… Just know that I love you and Madeleine above anything. You were the light in my night's sky Terra. I hope for nothing else than for your happiness.

With all the love in the world, Maduin

Terra dropped the letter and fell to her knees, hot tears streaming down her face. Her mother had known what the letter meant. That's why she was in shock. Her father… her Papa was gone. Memories flashed in her head, too many, too fast. She clutched and wept. Wept for minutes before opening her eyes, stopping the stream of tears. She could cry whenever she desired, but not now. Her father had asked her something. His last request… she wouldn't let him down! Swallowing dry and biting the side of her mouth, she jumped to her feet, Crusader and Jade looking up to her.

"Mama… go to the gym. Cid will call the Champion…" Terra said, turning her back to her mother, only to have the blonde older woman clutch to her.

"D-don't go… they'll find you!" She screeched in panic.

"Mama. Papa gave his life to protect the plate. We both know its importance… I have to do it. I have to take it," Terra told her, holding back the tears while peering into her living room, knowing exactly where they had hidden the plate. Under the floor. She slithered away from her mother's hold and, her sobbing still echoing through the house, she opened the trap door that contained the pink tablet. She quickly grabbed it and turned around, facing her mother eye to eye now. She had stopped crying, instead, she put something on Terra's free hand.

It was some sort of Ocarina, one that her mother had carried ever since Terra was a toddler. Purple and sleek, it had a unique design that Terra could not truly explain, nor could she explain the sensation that it came with holding it in her hand. It was soothing… just what she needed in these times.

"Take Quetzalcoatl until the port and then take the boat Besaid. Don't worry about him, he'll be able to come back to me, but I doubt he can make the trip to Besaid in one go." Her mother told her, embracing her tightly. "Be careful Terra… I love you," said Madeline, Terra giving in to the moment for a few seconds before parting ways with her mother, rushing out the door, whispering:

"I love you too…" while tears flowed out of her eyes. She found her mother's Pidgeot waiting for her, nodding sadly at her as she leapt into its back.

"Eevee! Vee!" she heard Jade scream as the little Eevee ran towards the Pidgeot. "Mama! Wait!" was what she understood.

"Jade, it's dangerous! You ca-"

"Father told me to follow you to the ends of the Earth if needed. I will never leave you Mama. Please… take me with you!" the Eevee implored, Terra's eyes filling with tears. She didn't want to put Jade in danger… but she needed the Eevee as much as it needed her. She reached out to her Poké Ball and nodded.

"Jade, return!" the thin ray of energy made contact with Jade, who nodded as it entered the ball. "Let's go Quetzalcoatl!" she shouted, the Pidgeot taking to the skies.

* * *

"I'm so sorry…" Blue said after hearing Terra's story. She shook her head in denial.

"Don't. I would've needed to recount this. The rest went as planned. Quetzalcoatl left me in the port city and I took a boat to Besaid. There, I rented a Gogoat with my savings and rushed towards Casheens. It was then that…"

* * *

"How far are we?" Terra asked the Gogoat, which of course replied with a long:

"Gooooo!" Terra's innate capabilities translated it as: "We are near. After the forest clears we'll be at our destination!"

The Gogoat had, at first, found it strange how she could easily communicate with it, but a quick explanation sufficed. All was well until Terra's acute hearing captured a shrill cry from the clearing. Gogoat seemed to hear it too as it turned its head back to Terra expectantly. Terra could not make herself ignore suffering, no matter her objective and so she nodded. The Gogoat made a sharp turn left and jumped into the clearing, landing in sight of Lake Avia.

"I can't believe that I, Bio, have gotten my hands on a Shaymin. One of such unusual coloring as well. This must be of Divine Providence. With this, I will be a lowly spy no longer!" we all know who was talking, the mad scientist was screaming as he held Shaymin hostage in-between his hands, the poor gratitude Pokémon burned from his Camerupt's fiery attacks. Terra needn't any further explanation, reaching for her Poké Ball, she called for her Eevee to take the field.

"Jade! Use Swift!" she ordered while the Pokémon appeared in the blaze of white light. It shouted:

"Vee!" while spinning in midair, sending guiding stars onto Bio's hands. The scientist fell on his back, releasing Shaymin, grunting in pain. Terra quickly made her way to Shaymin and began to touch it:

"Don't worry… I'll make the pain stop,"

"What is this?! Who DARES hurt the mighty Bio with such an underhanded attack?!" the madman screamed while getting back on his feet.

"I can't say that I know what was happening, but what you were doing to this Pokémon is wrong, no matter if it's yours or not… which I doubt. I won't let you hurt him any longer!" Terra screamed, Jade nodding, even the Gogoat doing the same.

"Tough words… very well, I, Bio, did need a distraction. Let the massacre begin!"

* * *

"And then, you know what happened," Terra finished, sniffing the last of her tears. A handkerchief made was then dropped onto her hand, courtesy of the person on her side, Shin. Smiling, she took it and cleaned her face with it. "That is why I am here… that is also why they were after me and the Shaymin. They wanted the Pixie Plate," she explained, reaching for her bag and laying the Plate in question onto the table.

"I guess it all makes sense then… I also came here because of something similar," Green explained, removing something from the bag he carried around, an exact replica of Terra's plate, just green in color. "Yellow was given this from her mother. Gramps called it the Meadow Plate and Silver confirmed it. Grandpa Oak sees Merlina as an expert in the matter so… here I am now," he explained, his hair then inexplicably getting ruffled.

"You flatter me Greeny," the same voice they had all heard hours before said. They all looked towards the entrance and there they were. With her hair now tied into a long braid over her shoulder, Merlina and her Alakazam now stood at the door, smirking as they walked towards the table, pulling a chair for both of them, yes, the Alakazam pulled a chair for himself, they both sat, feet on the table. "Sooo, you called?" Merlina asked, no worry on her face.

"You call yourself a professor?! Have some responsibility!" Green snapped, slamming his hands on the table. Everyone looked up to him, even Blue was surprised at his outburst. "Do you have any idea what happened? What IS happening?!" Green shouted, Merlina's blue eyes losing their happy spark for once.

She took a look at Erina and nodded. "So that's what happened…" she said, apparently being briefed about everything that had transpired from now, "Well then, I think we should get to it," she said, standing up and turning her back.

"Where are we going?" Green asked, Merlina looking back to him and smirking.

"Why, to my lab of course," she said, never losing her smile.

"Can I ask… why? What's in there?" Terra questioned, being the voice of everyone.

"Well, the secret to the power of God, nothing more,"

* * *

Next Chapter:

"_So you're telling me these plates… can be used by mortals?"_

"_What are you going to do now Terra?"_

"_I'll name you… Mog!"_

Rise to the Summit continues in: **"****Gifts of the Creator"**

* * *

**Pokémon Names:**

What is this section, you may ask? Well, since a grand majority of the Pokémon belonging to the main characters are named, and even secondary ones, I thought I'd help you guys remember which are which in these sections. Every time a new named one appears, I'll post it in these sections.

Shin's Pokémon:

Axew/"Rai" (Male)

Growlithe/"Trombe" (Male)

Terra's Pokémon:

Eevee/"Jade" (Male)

Blue's Pokémon:

Blastoise/"Blasty" (Male)

Merlina's Pokémon:

Sylveon/"Morgana" (Female)

Gardevoir/ "Guinevere" (Female)

Gallade/"Arthur" (Male)

Absol/"Lancelot" (Male)

Alakhazam/"Merlin" (Male)

Madeleine's Pokémon:

Pidgeot/"Quetzalcoatl" (Male)

Maduin's Pokémon:

Flareon/"Crusader" (Male)

* * *

**Post-Chapter Note:** Yes, I know, my cliffhangers are pricky. Well, not much I can say about this chapter. The first chapter went at such a pace I felt we needed to slow down and take a deep breath. What better way to do it than to make you more used to the characters and giving some backstory? Well, the next chapter will explain more of the basis for the overarching plot to the whole story, not just this fic and expect to have Shaymin talk a bit more and some of Terra's powers to be explained in depth in there. Anyway, feel free to tell me what you thought down there!

**PS:** If any of you guys does have X or Y, feel free to send me your Friend Codes. I'll add you and we'll grow the Friend Safari even more.


	3. Gifts of the Creator

**Author's Note:** After 220 hours in Pokémon X… I couldn't follow my update schedule! This story HAD to be updated. Blame my addiction! I'm still to find a shiny Goomy or Trapinch, much to my sadness... Mega-Latias made it all go away though. My lil' Lati will enjoy the attention!

* * *

**Rise to the Summit**

**Chapter Three**

**Gifts of the Creator**

* * *

When we last left our heroes… I mean, protagonists, they aren't heroes yet! Anyway, as I was saying, when we last left our protagonists, the not-so-sane professor known as Merlina had begun directing them to her destroyed lab. Not wanting to be left behind, even Shin's brother, Kaiser, forced himself up, legs still trembling by the vicious hedgehog-to-the-groin. Gulping down, he sighed as he saw the gleaming figure of Terra walking away in the sunlight.

While he had been… less than tactful, that had been because the poor teen had been completely thunderstruck by the girl. She would not know it or she didn't care, but he knew that, with a flick of her wrist, she could have any man she wanted on his knees. He had to be fast and he had rushed in like an idiot. Trudging forward with his head dropped down, he sighed heavily and asked himself one simple question.

"Will I ever get another chance with her?" he cursed himself for it. Oh he did. Because he moment said words escaped his tongue, so did a flash of light escape his belt. Suddenly, his head was a couple of pounds heavier. A black bird, crow-like in appearance, stood there, yellow beak and red eyes pointing forward, apparently looking directly at Terra. His head plumage seemed to form a hat, strangely enough, such was the way of the Murkrow.

"Nevermore…" it said, voice deep and dark before releasing a bright "Krow!" Kaiser, more than annoyed by the answer and the timing, cringed in annoyance and exclaimed.

"Will you just lay off Poe? Nobody asked you!" Kaiser exclaimed, swatting the darn bird off his head and pointing his Poké Ball right at it, shooting the laser that would only encapsulate it until he managed to once again leave.

"Nevermore…" it answered again as it returned to the ball.

"I wonder why I ever caught you…" Kai cursed, shaking his head and following the rest of his family.

* * *

**Terra?** Terra suddenly heard Shaymin call inside her mind.

**Anything I can help with Shaymin?** Terra asked softly back, slightly surprising the Gratitude Pokémon. She understood why though, while communication through thought by a legendary was nothing out of the ordinary, she had replied by thought on her own volition, something humans generally could not do without the Pokémon's help. Terra'd been blessed with that power ever since she was born, even if she preferred to simply talk to a Pokémon out loud, which strangely also worked perfectly, even on completely wild ones.

**It's just...** the small hedgehog began, suddenly feeling two warm hands grabbing onto his sides and pulling him towards Terra's chest.

**I'm not comfortable around crowds either. Let's help each other out, okay?** Terra said with a smile, the azure hedgehog's sad expression lighting up as it nodded, nuzzling into Terra's chest as she rubbed his grassy spikes. On Terra's side, her Eevee mewled weakly, blasting Terra with his best Baby-Doll eyes, a lethal weapon that would melt the heart of many on the spot. As it stood there, waiting for Terra to pick him up, a ribbon pulled his ear to the side where he met Sylveon. The small Evolution Pokémon look away in distress by Merlina's Sylveon bopped him on the head twice, her herself using Baby-Doll Eyes on the younger unevolved cousin. Terra could only smile as she saw her Jade run after Guinevere.

* * *

"So, I've been wondering. Gramps told me you were doing the most "hilariously insane but most impressive research ever put out" but he never specified what. What were you doing in there?" Green asked Merlina, taking a deep breath and preparing mentally for the outburst. He had spent way too much time around insane women to know one at first sight.

"Oh, the thing that blew up my lab and the thing I dedicate most of my time two are two completely separate researches if you were implying that," Merlina explained, leaving Green to question how one would head two researches at the same time. "But anyway… I research Pokémon communication!"

Now this was something Green didn't expect… and it was surprisingly sane. Yes, people knew most Pokémon "got" the human language, but it was quite the problem that, outside of heavy bonding with a Pokémon, one could not understand what he said back. Nodding, he asked:

"Is it true that all Pokémon share the cognitive knowledge necessary for understanding speech?" Green questioned, receiving a nod in return.

"Sure! I mean, even DUNSPARCE do. Dunsparce!" Merlina exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air vibrantly.

"So, I can assume you're working on a translating device?" Green asked. Suddenly he got hit in the head hard by a metallic object. Looking to the side, Green saw it to be a spoon.

"You really think too low of our species bro!" Green was speechless. He didn't even know why. Was it the fact that an Alakazam just SPOKE or the fact that said Alakazam spoke in "dudebro" dialect?

"There is something inherently wrong with that Alakazam…" Blue said, destroying Green's voice for a good minute. If something was inherently wrong in her eyes, then Arceus himself was about to press the reset button on the universe.

"Don't be a hater girl, it's just who I am!" Alakazam exclaimed, opening up his arms and faking hurt. However, after a few seconds of meticulously observation the reactions he got, the Psi Pokémon started laughing out loud, slowly returning to a far calmer but still strangely scheming posture. "I'm sorry, but the reaction to it is always oh so priceless. Don't fret, while I may not be the most by-the-book of Alakazam, I assure you, I am not what I made you believe," he said, nodding before still chuckling earnestly, the confession being possibly as shocking as his former speech patterns.

"If you think Merlin's bad, you really haven't seen her Hydreigon," the boy known as Marcus said with little to no interest, mostly because he was probably used to this kind of reactions.

Shaking off the shock, Green and Blue finally realized the feat that truly called for everyone's attention. They were witness to a normal breed of Pokémon not only able to communicate, but able to do so by SPEECH. This could easily run for discovery of the century, the Pokédex had nothing on that!

"This is… amazing," Green said, trying his best not to show the sheer excitement that was at that moment taking his soul hostage. Extremely rare? Yes, but this deserved it. However, this only served to impact Merlina in the opposite way he believed it would.

"Hardly… Alakazam are much more intelligent than the average human. I'm still very far away from an actual way of teaching every Pokémon," she answered in an unfittingly serious tone, shaking her head in disappointment. Even her children were surprised by the answer, Merlina wasn't known for her frown.

Slap!

And so, Merlina slapped herself on the face, literally plastering a smile with it, the slap seemingly blowing her mind out of any deep thought.

"Still, I'm young, sexy and have all the time in the world! Someday, I'll make Magikarp and Slowpoke learn how to speak Fren- I mean, Kalosian!" she exclaimed, putting her finger to the sky and striking a pose. Everyone just let out a small smile at her antics, even Green, the young champion understanding that beneath that blanket of insanity there was an actual dreamer with a set course. "Anyway, that's really nothing right now. At least compared with my discovery yesterday!" Merlina exclaimed, the partially destroyed laboratory finally in sight.

* * *

Most of the complex was fine actually, the group exhaled in relief that Merlina's antics had not reached catastrophic proportions. However, that hardly implied her part of the laboratory was any better. When they arrived, they saw it all. Mayhem. From books everywhere, equipment so thrashed it was beyond any recognition… and there was a Hydreigon stuffed in a fridge, well, as close as you can get to stuff it in at least.

"And what did you find out about, Mom? I thought you were really going for communication only," Shin asked, genuinely curious about what Merlina had hidden beneath her sleeve, being too used to what she normally pulled off to be surprised at what had befallen her laboratory.

Little did he know, she had literally hidden it inside her sleeve. Smiling, Merlina reached for her long sleeve and said:

"What if I show you?" she asked, removing from her sleeve something that shocked everyone in the vicinity, especially Terra. A large, pink tablet that only differed from Terra's in color. As the shock was still in effect, Merlina took it upon herself to make it even more prominent. "Merli, ready?" she questioned her Alakazam, which nodded in return, both their eyes glowing in a pale blue light that heralded telekinetic abilities.

"Lead the way," the Alakazam replied as the plate drifted from Merlina's hand and floated into the center of the Pokémon and his master. Suddenly, it glimmered in a bright pinkish tone, the eyes of the Pokémon and trainer strangely following suit. In perfect synchrony, their hands started to dance through the air, leaving glimmering pink lines behind. To everyone's surprise, this caused books to fly back into the now-repairing shelves, the Hydreigon was pulled out of the fridge, which followed the bookcases' example, and most mind-bendingly, the destroyed walls to the exterior were slowly returning to their glory days, the sand, rocks and debris outside converging back from hence it came. Even the paint had returned to prime shape.

Barely five minutes of this spectacle had passed before it all came to a serene end.

"I-it's… just like it normally is," Shin stuttered, not believing his eyes. The laboratory was in a way no one would ever guess it was ever dirty, much less destroyed. And that boggled his mind even more. "No, it's BETTER than before. It's spotless!" Merlina wasn't tidy at home. Her lab was ten times worse. Any theory of her "returning it to how it was" was dead before it even formed.

"Well then, enjoyed the show?" the ever flamboyant professor said while she threw her braided ponytail back over her shoulder. Silence is golden, it also encompasses many answers, obvious answers. The complete shock in the room was shared by all but one and that was just the answer Merlina needed. And the last one was what she expected.

"You used the plate, didn't you? You're like my Papa…" Terra stated, her right hand threading to her ribbon before sighing deeply. The warmth of a human body slowly coursed through her as Merlina pulled her into an embrace.

"It's okay now. You did him proud," Merlina assured gently, stroking her scalp as Terra regained the strength to hold back the tears, swallow dry and nod. She just needed to get this over with.

**Terra, are you…** The little hedgehog questioned as it and Jade pawed at the girl's legs. Releasing herself from Merlina's arms, she kneeled and scooped into her both of the little bundles of love, one in each arm.

**It'll be over soon Shaymin, don't worry about it. You too Jade.** **We cried enough already, didn't we?** she told Shaymin and her Eevee. Suddenly, the wet, soft tissue of a small tongue she knew so well caressed the area bellow her right eye. She looked down and saw Jade's caramel eyes looking into hers, and realized he had just cleaned a lone tear. **Thank you Jade, I needed that.**

"Are you okay? If you want to rest I-"Merlina began, quickly being silenced.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I think I'll be better off knowing just what you know about these," Terra explained, from her satchel removing the object similar to Merlina's, the only real difference being the vivid pink contrasted with the darker pink. Merlina nodded, a nasty smile returning to her expression as she told everyone to sit around her table. She took Terra's Plate and lay it down alongside her's on the table, asking:

"So, where do we start?" she asked, having her own son answer.

"You can start by telling us what you were hiding from us all this time. A secret investigation on the side that even your sons couldn't hear about? Really mom?" Marcus groaned, irritated that even he, the person who most of the times had to sort his mother's information out before she left home, was kept completely in the dark. Merlina sighed heavily, not out of sadness, more like annoyance, took a hand to her forehead and whined:

"Fiiiine. Look, while this was kept hush-hush for the most part, we all know what happened more than half a decade ago in Johto with these bad boys, don't we Greenie-boy?" she asked, flicking her finger on the Champion's forehead, much to his companion's amusement.

"Yeah… the Arceus incident. How do you know about tha- Watch it!" Green demanded, but it was too late, Merlina's hand had entered his cloak and ripped off another of the tablets, this one green.

"Oakie-poo told me. He also told me about this. The Meadow Plate. Friend of yours found it in in a Viridian forest shrine, right?" she told the now distressed champion, predicting his question and answering with: "I got my contacts all sorted out," adding a wink for good measure.

"Teach me master…" Blue said under her breath in admiration. Prying off info from Professor Oak required some major skill.

"Anyway, I'll just skim through it for you kiddos. More than half a decade ago, Team Rocket managed to gather all plates except the Pixie Plate in one place, back in Johto. This kinda made Arceus be somewhat pussy about it all so he came, summoned his three cronies, you know, the Creation Trio, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina? Those guys. And then he decided humans "failed their test". Long story short, Lancie-boy, Baby-Silvy and someone who kindly asked to stay anonymous managed to hold the Creation Trio back while Goldie convinced "The Lord" that he was being premature in his judgment. By ramming him with a Togekiss. At least it worked and he left so… all hail Togekiss I guess," she said all nonchalant, shrugging off or apparently not even realizing how much info she had dropped into one paragraph. "I think that's mostly what happened, right?"

"Not exactly how it happened, but it gets the job done nicely in the end. Gotta write Baby-Silvy down though. Silver's gonna flip out…" Blue said, really writing it down on her notebook after confirming Merlina's side of things.

"Okay then, that was some backstory that we barely matters so listen up now. What happened right afterwards was that, even though Arceus took his Plates with him, they started reappearing in various places around the entire world. One of them being in my mother's house back in Zeal five years ago. Of course this more than picked my curiosity so I dug a bit deeper on the Plate's history even though my mother was less than receptive about helping. Which is when I met your father," she told Terra, who didn't seem all that surprised with the revelation. She had guessed they at least knew each other for him to trust her to that point. "Now, do you all know what these are?" she asked and Terra thought she was the best one to answer all of it. She'd been safekeeping one all her life after all.

"The seventeen plates are the crux of Arceus' power. After the Creation, Arceus decided to remove Himself from the world He created and simply observe it from the Hall of Origin. However, unwilling to leave the world without a failsafe for any crisis that befell it, He divided His powers unto seventeen objects, one symbolizing each of the types a Pokémon could possess," she explained, the words she had been taught as a child flowing out of her lips as if second nature.

"That's the short version. But what I found out about the plates is something faaaaaaaaaaar more interesting. I guess your father told you to not tell this to anyone, didn't he?" Merlina questioned with a smile, leaning her head on her closed knuckles before expanding upon what Terra had just said.

"To tell the truth, what she said is completely right, but also semi-common knowledge. What her father he filled the missing blanks. Turns out, neither humans or Pokémon can use the Plates," now that made no sense in anyone's mind.

"But you just…" Kaiser began.

"Now, now, Kai, I said that neither of them can use it. I said nothing about BOTH!" noticing the looks of confusion, she made quick work out of what she meant. "It's simple really. Arceus knew that both of the races he created were imperfect. He especially distrusted humans, hence why we have next to no power next to Pokémon. Because of it, the plates REQUIRE cooperation between a Pokémon and their owner to work. You saw me and Merlin use the Mind Plate to repair the lab, didn't you? That was because Arceus wanted only people that established a deep link of trust with their Pokémon to bound with the Plate." everyone nodded in understanding.

"So you're telling me these plates… can be used by mortals? That easily?" Green asked.

"It's not without limitations. One, you have to get the plate to accept you. Which, really, took most of my time when investigating this, they are hard to convince. They are REALLY picky!" one could only wonder how you would convince an inanimate object, but oh well. "Besides, that's exactly why each plate once had a family safeguarding it. Handpicked by Deer God Himself too. Now, of course most of these families vanished with time, like most family lines end, and because of it, I don't really know of any more locations for the rest of the plates. As far as I know, only the Magus and the Branford line were alive to see the return of these things. I have no idea what the big A wants by giving the plates back to us… but I'd bet that we're not out of hot water yet, even after that decade of constant struggle we had recently,"

Well, that salted the mood rather quickly.

"You mean Arceus…" Terra began, Merlina cutting into it with a more defensive tone.

"I'm just saying that I see no reason for Arceus to give us the plates back like, four years after the incident just for kicks. He obviously wants us to do SOMETHING with them. I'm still working on the "what" though…"she explained.

"Well, that was what I needed to hear. I'll tell my grandfather about this and he'll be in contact with you soon enough. I'm guessing you want Yellow's plate for investigating?" Green asked, receiving a nod back from Merlina.

"And… would you keep mine too? My father really wanted to get you to protect it," Terra nearly begged, confusing Merlina at first, the professor's brain grinding gears apparently as her expression slowly turned into a dangerous, prankster-prone one.

"Oh… I'll take your plate alright…." She said as she giggled.

That moment of confusion gone, Shin decided to address the elephant, more like hedgehog, in the room.

"I don't mean to pry, but Shaymin aren't exactly common and, or sociable. Is it possible for you or Shaymin to explain how he ended up on whoever that guy's team was' sights?" Shin asked, taking notice to sound as less threatening as possible while looking at the small gratitude Pokémon. Terra nodded, but suddenly stopped to look at Shaymin with a strange look.

"Are you sure?" the hedgehog nodded at the question. Terra, while still preoccupied, slowly lay Shaymin on the table, sitting back down.

**I'll be the one telling my story. I… I owe you at least that. You saved me. **It didn't take a genius to see that Shaymin was struggling over the gazes he was getting, especially from those who hadn't met a legendary, or mythical as some called it, before. Much less one of the shiny variant, that was unique on a whole different level. Still, the timid hedgehog bravely pushed through.

**It all started two seasons ago… in a field of Gracideas far, far away.**

* * *

"The season is almost changing my sweet. It is about time we migrate," a white reindeer-like Pokémon with green grass-like fur on his paws and Mohawk said, his scarf-like red flower flowing with the wind on his neck. This was Shaymin's even more legendary Sky Forme, one that was said to take to the skies with magic-like powers. In front of him were two Shaymin. One sharing coloration with him, but in the form of a hedgehog and the other with the azure grass on its back, this being the Shaymin Terra had encountered.

"But why father? I…" Our Shaymin tried to reason, but the older Shaymin wasn't having any of it.

"Son, I did not raise you ever since you were born out of that Gracidea thirty eight seasons ago for you to throw your life away!" the Shaymin Sky blared out, a commanding voice never found in any Land Shaymin scaring the small hedgehog to death. Shaymin in Sky Forme had their personality drastically altered, filling them with courage and determination, so a Land Shaymin would rarely have the guts to get in a fight with one. Not to mention they gained type advantage over land Shaymin.

"But father I-I really want to meet her again. S-she saved me all those seasons ago… And we haven't stopped here for thirty five seasons s-so…" Our Shaymin could barely talk back at the parent, even less so while being stared down by the only Shaymin-Sky of the herd. To make it worse, the noise had attracted the rest of the herd of Shaymin as they all popped out from between the flowers, commenting once again on his troublesome ideas.

"Humans ensnare us and pit against one another for their own gain! You think that female wanted any less than that? She saved you by using her slaves!" the alpha male of the herd exclaimed, his eyes full of hatred that betrayed the name of his species.

"A-Arceus created humans and Pokémon equally and for us to live with one another. Those Pokémon weren't her slaves, they were her dear friends, her family, her… her Dragonite swore it to me!" Shaymin somehow found the will to continue to shout, fondly remembering his adventure when he was just a cub.

"They break their wills and their minds. He was far beyond reason," his father spat hatefully, turning his back at him. "We must go now. Take your Gracideas to soar. Winter is coming," As he began to walk away. Our Shaymin's mother made her way next to her child, touching it with her soft, wet nose and nuzzling to him.

"You must understand sweetie, your father only wants you safe… no Shaymin who has left the herd ever returned…" she said in the most apologetic tone she could muster. She did not fully agree with her mate but her logic was betrayed by her motherly love. It was like that every single time. And Shaymin had had enough.

"N-no! I won't go!" Shaymin screamed as hard as he could, small drops of water falling into the grass bellow.

"What did you say, cub?" the father threatened, glaring daggers at the now crying Shaymin.

"I-I said I won't go! I'll go meet her myself! A-and then I'll travel the world with her and learn how humans and Pokémon co-exist! Then I'll meet you and show you how wrong you were!" Shaymin screamed, hastily turning his back on his father and rushing on the opposite direction.

"Son, don't! You can't even transform at your age!" he heard his mother cry, but the lack of any call from his father only pushed him onwards. Onwards, into the unknown. Nobody tried to stop him either. His ideas about mingling with humans, broke the Shaymin Hermit-lifestyle after all, they were too afraid to follow him after he crossed the line of the garden.

* * *

**After that happened, I travelled aimlessly through the countryside. I met a lot of Pokémon, and they were really nice, but no one had seen the girl I was looking for. I could barely remember anything about her outside of her smell, which only made it worse.** the Shaymin explained, looking wistfully out the window. **It wasn't until I hit the beach that a Pelipper suggested me to try this island. I travelled across the ocean on his beak and he left me on the forest where you met me, telling me to tell any Wingull or Pelipper to find him if I needed a trip back into the mainland. I had barely started exploring once I was attacked…**

The moment his story finished, the young Shaymin found himself flying right back into Terra's now undivided arms, who hugged dearly as if there was no tomorrow.

"I'm so sorry about your father…" she whispered to his ear, almost shedding a tear over the Pokémon's loss.

**Don't be.** She heard in her head and her mind alone. **I found you, didn't I? You proved me how humans can be just as compassionate as Pokémon. Even Shin and the Champion were nice to me. Blue was… strange, but she seems nice. Knowing this, I can continue on my journey with hope!** It said with a great big smile on his small features. That was enough to make Terra tear up and pull him even closer to her heart.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was rather uneventful and consisted mostly of the brothers showing Terra the town. As much as you'd think that would be interesting, after Kaiser's little mishap… it really wasn't. The closest thing we got was when they all had returned home to have dinner.

"So, Terra, what're you going to do from here on out?" Shin asked her as he sipped on some soup. Somehow, her soup was already done and she was waiting for the main course to come, but it was just a lack of sensitivity to question a woman on that subject, so he stayed away from it. Terra on the other hand emerged herself in thought for a full minute before nodding and replying:

"I'm going to do what my father promised he would do with me on my birthday. I'll be traveling across the land-"

"Searching far and wide?" Merlina interrupted, her own maid hitting her on the back of the head for what she had just added. Confused, Terra continued anyway:

"I want to see the world. I was never outside Narshe before, contrary to what my father wanted. He had barely left Narshe as well and tried so hard to get me to travel as anything. Traveler, trainer, coordinator, ranger… I'll honor him by doing just that, traveling!" she exclaimed with determination, picking the interest of four specific people. One of them much louder than the others.

"OOOOH! So you're travelling huh? Well, you're gonna need some protection! Here, I got this for you," she threw her a Poké Ball, which Terra expertly caught.

"I-I can't take this!" promptly said Terra, being all but ignored.

"This year was really busy, but I still got dealt with one more than they requested, so here it is. Your own…" she made a motion for Terra to open it and she did. She nearly squealed once she saw what was inside the ball.

"TORCHIC!" she squeaked, pulling the Chic Pokémon into her chest. She adored cute things and, while Torchic was no Shaymin, it was pretty darn adorable. The round orange chic had adorable stubby yellow wings, a strange flame-like crest which combined his two primary colors and small paws that were now looking for any sort of floor.

"Terra, you're… you're chocking him," Shin told her, touching her shoulder to break her daze. Her eyes bulged and she quickly lay her Torchic back into the table. He didn't seem upset, but his demeanor betrayed his appearance. He was calm, quiet, and stared at Terra with a purely analytical look.

"Torchic, this is your new partner, Terra. I bet you'll get along just nicely! She even understands what you want to say!" Merlina explained, the Torchic showing a brief sign of doubt before testing it.

"Tor, Tor. Chic," (**If you truly can understand me, I must request a name Master.**) Terra flinched at Torchic's tone. It was so… noble and determined, certainly NOT what she expected from it. Still, she could see the doubt tarnish its beak, so her mind quickly assigned it the best name she could remember at the time.

"Stardust!" she spouted, petting its head, crest and all. "I'll name you Stardust. And you can call me Terra, I'm not your master after all…"

"Torchic," (**As you wish, My Lady Terra.**) Yeah, that was enough to get her to sigh. Knowing she would not get better than that, she nodded and let the Pokémon jump back down. There, it met a very curious Jade, which didn't hesitate in offering his paw in a sign of friendship. Not knowing what else to do, Stardust took it with its little talon. Shaymin soon followed, his small stub uniting the three Pokémon in one sign of trust. It was adorable to see them bond really.

Meanwhile, Rai faked not being jealous on the side, only to have both Trombe and Morgana pretty much laugh in its face. His rage would be plentiful, if Morgana wasn't fairy. He was deathly afraid of those… with reason.

"Well then, if you're leaving, I think you should know we're leaving tomorrow to Myssidia. It's our birthday and we can finally turn into trainers!" Kaiser began, his intentions clear as day.

"You forget we're travelling in separate. You're obviously trying to make her come with you, are you not?" Marcus admonished, taking Kaiser's full attention for the moment, making Terra have to turn to Shin for a question:

"Why are you travelling alone? Aren't you brothers?" she asked Shin, who laughed heartily.

"It's just that. We're brothers. You think we don't secretly wanna outmatch the rest? We'd sooner end up beaten up on an alleyway than beat up the champion if we travelled together. No, this journey is yet another way for us to do what brothers do, fight. Believe me, we've been waiting for a loooooong time for this and I honestly do want to shove Kaiser's ego down his throat!" Shin exclaimed happily, his expression far more lively than Terra normally saw it. It somehow made her have to break eye-contact for a moment.

"I heard tha-"Kaiser began before having his mouth covered by Erina.

"Manners!" she scolded.

* * *

"Shin?" Terra called as they were all leaving the table, the boy being in charge of showing her the guest's room.

"Yeah?" he questioned, Rai and Trombe breaking away from their "talks" with Terra's Pokémon and Shaymin.

"I'm really grateful for today… I'm also thinking of leaving tomorrow. Can I go with you? It'll be easier on us both," it was surprisingly hard to say those words for Terra, even though they made complete sense, it felt like they were… incomplete.

"W-Wha… I mean, y-yeah, sure!" Shin stuttered looking to his Pokémon for help, meeting two very confused looks from them. "I-I'll see you tomorrow then, bye!" he quickly added, storming into his room, nearly leaving Rai and Trombe behind.

"What happened to him?" Terra asked her Pokémon, but none knew.

* * *

After a nice bath, Terra was inside one of Merlina's old pajamas and ready to hit the hay. Slowly crawling into the warm bed, she smile as Jade jumped into the bed, curling up to sleep on his normal place, between her legs. She looked to the side and saw Stardust sleeping while being sat down, hidden beneath it's feathery orange. He really looked and talked like a human samurai or martial artist. What she didn't expect though, was when she slowly lay her head on the pillow, there was a familiar ball of azure curled up right next to it.

"Shaymin?" she asked, the small hedgehog heading her call.

**Terra… I have to ask you a big favor.** It said, Terra nodding in response. **Can I-can I travel with you? I-I really like you and I know nothing of the world. I-I want to see how humans act and I think that, if I stick with you, I'll find my friend all the quicker. If it's no problem with you can I…**

"It's no problem at all Shaymin! I'll be glad to travel with you for as long as you'd like! We'll find your friend, I promise!" Terra told him, leaning her head closer to the Gratitude Pokémon, who nuzzled back in return.

**Also… if we're doing this, can I please ask you to name me? It'd mean so much to me… I really want to be as close to you as Jade or Stardust.** This was almost too much for Terra. Her out was almost leaping out of adorable overload.

"I'm touched Shaymin. But if you truly want it, I'll be honored to. I'll name you… Mog!" she said after some consideration. She could almost feel Shaymin's snout lighting up at the anme.

**I love it! Thank you so much Terra!** It thanked, liking Terra's cheek repeatedly.

"Vee!" Eevee puffed, jumping into Terra's chest to get closer to her, as if being territorial about his master.

"Don't mention it Mog… I'm sure we're all going to be the best of friends. Even Stardust," she said, yawning right after. "Goodnight…" she wished, pecking Mog's snout and petting Jade's mane.

"Shay!" (**Goodnight!**)

"Vee!" (**Goodnight!**)

"Tor." (**Rest well.**)

* * *

**Who's that Pokémon?!**

Okay, so Jade's Pokémon fic got this nifty idea to add at the end of each chapter to further the feel of what this is. So, here's a challenge. I'll get some Pokédex entries here and you have to guess them right. Don't cheat. If you guess all of them, you get ONE question perternaing the next chapter!

Entry One!

The flowers all over its body burst into bloom if it is lovingly hugged and senses gratitude.

Entry Two, slightly harder!

According to the legends of Sinnoh, this Pokémon emerged from an egg and shaped all there is in this world.

Entry Three, hard mode, engaged!

Very smart and very vengeful. Grabbing one of its many tails could result in a 1,000-year curse.

* * *

Next Chapter:

_"She's coming with you?! I call Shinanigans!"_

_"That's a nice little flute you got there!"_

_"A fight? Here?"_

_"That light… it can't be!"_

Rise to the Summit continues in: **"Esper"**

* * *

**Pokémon Names:**

Terra's Pokémon:

Torchic/"Stardust"

Shaymin/ "Mog" ("Male" in persona)

Kaiser's Pokémon:

Murkrow/ "Poe" (Male)

* * *

**Post-Chapter Note:** So there's a nice little chapter for you, isn't there? Some info was dropped about plot points FAAAAAAAAAR down the line, even giving you a taste of what they can do. We also learned more about "Mog" in all of his unending adorableness. Just like Terra's team, isn't it just to die for? Anyway, next chapter you'll see more of the Pokémon adventure fare, and I have a small surprise at the end, so stay tuned! Oh, and don't forget to review, I do appreciate it and I'll answer any questions, or anything really!

**PS:** Did you catch Kai's Murkrow's name right? The reference I mean.


End file.
